Readmio

Readmio s.r.o. is a Czech-based edtech company that develops the Readmio mobile application for reading children's stories aloud. The company was founded in 2020 by Jozef Šimko, Ilya Novodvorskiy, Radoslav Rajčan and Erik Nota. The application uses speech recognition technology to trigger sounds and music while stories are read aloud.

The application is available in 135 countries and 9 languages. By 2026, Readmio had raised €2.98 million in total funding.

History

Founding and early growth

Readmio was founded in 2020 by Jozef Šimko, Ilya Novodvorskiy, Radoslav Rajčan and Erik Nota. The application was developed over approximately 18 months before its release. Its early development included work on story content, translations, proofreading, sound effects and music. The developers also collaborated with the Slovak Academy of Sciences on speech recognition technology for Slavic languages.

The application was launched in Slovakia in June 2020 and in the Czech Republic in July 2020. By January 2021, it included stories in Czech, Slovak and English, and by April 2021 Readmio reached 100,000 users.

In February 2026, Readmio recorded over 2 million downloads and more than 300,000 monthly active users.

Funding and international expansion

At the end of 2020, Readmio received an investment from the Slovak venture capital fund ZAKA. The investment was connected with expansion outside the Czech and Slovak markets, with the United Kingdom as the first planned foreign market.

In 2022, Readmio prepared its entry into the United Kingdom market. In the same year, Readmio raised 25 million CZK in an investment round led by 0100 (formerly Zero Gravity Capital), with participation from Depo Ventures. The capital was intended for expansion into other countries. At that time, the application was available in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.

Readmio later expanded into Latin American markets. The process included localization of the content, website and application before the expansion was announced in November 2023.

In January 2025, Readmio raised €500,000 in seed funding from Simpact Ventures. The company was then operating in more than 100 countries and had content in eight languages. At that time, Poland, the United States, Brazil and Germany were among its fastest-growing markets.

In 2026, Readmio received a follow-on investment of €1 million led by Simpact Ventures. The new capital was connected with expansion in Asia, the United States and Latin America. In the same period, Readmio was available in 135 countries and 9 languages, and its total funding reached €2.98 million.

Product and technology

Readmio uses voice-recognition technology to detect keywords or relevant parts of a text during reading aloud and trigger sound effects or music. Its speech recognition system was developed in collaboration with the Slovak Academy of Sciences for Slavic languages. The system runs offline on the user’s device. The content library consists of children's stories prepared for reading aloud, including translated and proofread texts, sound effects and music.

Awards

In 2021, Readmio won the Czech final of Creative Business Cup 2021 and was selected to represent the Czech Republic at the global final in Copenhagen. The same year, Readmio won the audience prize at the European final of Startup World Cup & Summit 2021.

At the 2021 International Business Awards, Readmio received a Gold Stevie Award in the Startup of the Year category.